Washington Adolescent Mental Health Facts

Depression symptoms among high school students (grades 9-12), 2017 MH1

Percent of high school students who report they felt sad or hopeless almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row so that they stopped doing some usual activities (during the 12 months before the survey)

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition'sMH3 definition of a major depressive episode as having had five or more of the following nine symptoms nearly every day in the same 2-week period, where at least one of the symptoms is a depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities: (1) depressed mood most of the day; (2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all or almost all activities most of the day; (3) significant weight loss when not sick or dieting, or weight gain when not pregnant or growing, or decrease or increase in appetite; (4) insomnia or hypersomnia; (5) psychomotor agitation or retardation; (6) fatigue or loss of energy; (7) feelings of worthlessness; (8) diminished ability to think or concentrate or indecisiveness; and (9) recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation.